The present invention relates to aqueous emulsions of asphalt or coal tar, and in particular to aqueous asphalt emulsions of the oil-in-water type wherein the asphalt component is the discontinuous phase and the aqueous vehicle is the continuous phase. More particularly, the present invention relates to aqueous emulsions of asphalt that can be combined with fillers such as clay, sand and/or fibers (such as fiberglass and/or cotton), and in some cases modified with polymerized materials such as rubber, latex or SBR-type polymers. Such filled emulsions are typically used for applying sealing coatings to driveways, parking lots, pipes, and the like.
Asphalt is conventionally recognized in this field as a dark brown to black cementitious material in which the predominating constituents are bitumens that occur in nature or are obtained in the fractionation of petroleum. Asphalt characteristically contains very high molecular weight hydrocarbons soluble in some hydrophobic solvents. Bitumen is generically known as a class of black or dark-cementitious substances, natural or manufactured, composed principally of high molecular weight hydrocarbons.
Asphalts have been known for many years in various naturally-occurring types, but more and more conventionally asphalts are obtained as a very high molecular weight fraction obtained through the refining or fractionation of petroleum feed streams. In some cases these petroleum fractions are chemically processed prior to or after fractionation; and emulsions made with the resulting treated asphalts are also the subject of this application.
Asphalt is useful in its ability, especially when combined with a fine particulate filler, to form a continuous, highly water-impervious film or coating when applied for instance to roofs, and other exterior surfaces such as driveways, sidewalks, roadways, pipes, and the like.
Coal tars and fractionated coal tars are currently used in such applications, as emulsions and particularly as filled emulsions. The present invention can be considered applicable to the formation of such filled emulsions of coal tar and coal tar derivatives as well as to filled emulsions of asphalt.
Historically, coal tar and derivatives thereof have been incorporated into filled emulsions as the primary asphalt-like material. Filled coal tar emulsions are easily made using any of various surfactants. However, coal tar and its derivatives have become suspected as possibly carcinogenic, so avoiding their use has become desirable. Identifying satisfactory asphalt emulsions which are free of coal tar and coal tar derivatives is thus one of the principal objectives of the present invention.
The task of emulsifying asphalt and keeping it emulsified as a uniform dispersion of asphalt in the water in the presence of filler material, affording easy formulation of the final filled emulsion product, and at the same time obtaining the emulsion in a form which resists premature breaking, has been notoriously challenging. The components of the emulsifying system have to permit formation of the emulsion as desired prior to application of the emulsion to the particular surface. Once the emulsion has been applied and the water has evaporated, the components of the emulsifier system remain behind yet must not be permitted to re-emulsify the asphalt upon subsequent exposure to water. In addition, it is conventional practice to manufacture emulsion for the consumer in large batches, comprising hundreds or even thousands of gallons, from which individual consumer-sized quantities of the emulsion are dispensed for resale. Unfortunately, cationic and many anionic emulsifiers do not permit formation of stable filled asphalt emulsions which satisfy all of these requirements.
The stability of the emulsion before use, and the rapid curing of the emulsion after application, are particularly critical for packaged products sold to consumers but are also important for bulk products sold to contractors and large-scale applicators. The ability to formulate the emulsions, particularly on such large scale, is vulnerable to variations in the constitution of the water used to formulate the emulsion, and particularly vulnerable to the presence of dissolved salts which when present are known as "hardness" of the water. These salts can interfere with the ability to establish the desired emulsion, either through co-acting with the components of the emulsifying system, or otherwise for instance by undesirably altering the ionic strength of the aqueous phase of the emulsion.
The stability and curing behavior of the asphalt emulsion are particularly sensitive to the presence of solids added to the emulsion to form a filled emulsion product. These properties are also sensitive to the amount of such solids and to their identity.
It is also advantageous in some cases to produce a filled emulsion that is thixotropic. This thixotropic, or shear thinning, property minimizes splashing and pooling of the emulsion in low spots while enabling application of a desired thickness.
It is thus an object of the invention to identify emulsifiers for the formation of asphalt emulsions, which are not adversely affected by the presence of solids used to produce filled products.
It is also an object of the invention to identify emulsifying agents for use in formulating asphalt emulsions, which resist premature "breaking" of the emulsion while in storage prior to application. It is furthermore desirable to formulate asphalt emulsions with components that are easily available and relatively inexpensive, and which as well do not adversely affect the quality of the film or coating formed following application of the asphalt emulsion.
The present invention satisfies these objects as well as others that will be apparent herein.